Improvement in blasting by electricity



T,e P.- SHAFFNER. l Blasting by iletricit Patented Dec. i9', i865 2 Sheets-She@ 2.

P. SHAFFNER. Blasting by Electricity.

No. 51,674. Pamed- Dec. 19, 1865.

NEB, of Louisville,

,this specitcation,

applied lto a consecutive series line, and the' latter to the heading of a tunnel.

. T. P. SHAFFNER, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.v

IMPROVEMENT IN BLASTING BY ELECTRICITY.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. L, dated December 19, 1865.

' ov all whom it may concer/n:

Be it known that I, TALIAFERRO P. SHAPE- vin the county of Jefferson and State of Kentuckyhave made new and useful Improvements vin Artillery Mining and Blasting; and l dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the nature, construction, and operation of the same, s uicient to enable one skilled in the art to which it appertains to construct, and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made .part of and in which- Fignre l is a plan of a fort with the vgalleries, mines, and battery-Wires, illustrating itsapplication to blowing u p the salient angles, 8vo., of'the fort. Fig. 2 is au illustration showing the applicationof my improvement to the simultaneous explosion of torpedoes suitably placed. Fig. 3 is an illustration showing the application of my improvement to the purpose of blasting-rock or demolition of walls, &c. Fig. 4 representsthe heading of a tunnel with my improvement applied. Fig. 5 represents the cone of force in rock or water. Figs. 6 and 7 represent the heretofore-known mode of exploding two or more charges by thev same electric current, and the former is shown as of blasts in My invention consists in connecting a number of mines, torpedoes, or other objects with a lbattery, ,by means of branch wires oi' lesser conductivity than the main Wires, or ofplacing ou the branch circuits points of such resistance that each object as above shall, notwithstanding its different distance from the battery, receive a current of equal electric force.

The object is to obtain the simultaneous explosion of a number of minesytorpedoes, 85e.; and it may be obtainedby making the branch circuit-wires of smallerdiameter than the main Wires, so that. their individual conductivity shall be less than the main wire. They may be so proportioned that their aggregate conductivity may be equal tovthat of the main Wire',

v or each object, a mine for instance, mayhave interposed between the terminals of its fuse such a compound as to offer a resistance to the ow of the electric current sufficient to place each object under equal conditions as to electric inuence, notwithstanding their different distances from the battery. This compound may consist of subsulphide of copper, subphosphide of'coppcr,cl1lorate of potassium carbon, and sulphur, or anyequivalent compound, and its conductivity may be graduated by the addition of other elements to suit the vdesignated purpose. 4

In Fig. 1,'a b c d are the salientangles,&c., of a fort', under which are the mines cfg It, respectively. The mines are approachedby galleries G, andthe battery 'by which they are to be exploded is seen at B.

P is the main positive wire and N the main negative wire. These have branch circuitwires, p' p2 p3 p4 and n a2 n n4, which connect the main wires with the mines. The wires as arranged in the figuresv contemplate the explosion ot' the whole at once.

applied to torpedoes in rivers or harbors, the positive and negative main and branch are indicated by the-same letters, eral description off'Fig. l applies to this iigure, differing only in the character, position, and surroundings of'tlle charges, torpedoes being substitutedfor mines.

In Fig. 3, which illust-rates the invention as applied to blasting rock, the arrangement of wires is similar to Nos. l and 2. A A are the drill-holes, into which the branch circuit-Wires are conducted, and b are the charges, containing the fuse therein. above the charge.

tunnel, in which b I1 b, etc., represent the drillholes charged for blasting, in each of Awhich one branch circuit is led to fuses located in the charge, the said branch circuit-wires being connected to the .main lines leading tothe battery. The simultaneous explosion of all these blastswill secure their co-operation in the removal of the rock, leaving a comparatively evenl surface on a line near the bottom of the drill-holes. It' blasted separately, the force will discharge the stone as a cone. '(See to be sim ultaneously discharged, a less number of drill-holes will be required (probably a reduction of one-fthlto obtain a given lineal progress. 4.

In the diagram, Fig. 5, by the present known mode of blasting, the cone of force will be A In Fig. 2, which illustrates the invention as wires, and the geui a a are the Jcamping -Iu Fig. 4 is represented the heading 'of a Fig. 5.) Again, vwhen the blasts are arranged 2 sacca G C, or by the lines c a. The increased effect by the instantaneous explosion of the charge is represented by A b b, but when exploded cooperatively, as illustrated by Fig. 3, the cone of force will be .A c c. Now, supposing charges at A B B to be exploded simultaneously, the additional amount of disrupted rook by the explosion on the line c c will be represented byi A C B D A. Usually, however, when the drill-holes are sufficiently numerous the rock is lifted nearly on the plane B A B.

In Fig. 6 the formerly-known method ot'con; necting two ormore charges to be exploded in one circuit is shown. By this* process but a few charges can be exploded approximately near the same time, and in many instances the whole may fail to ignite, as the success will depend upon the efficiency of the charge containing the greatest resistance, while, on the other hand, by my invention, as represented by Figs. 1 2 3, the success does not depend upon the perfection of thcarrangcmcnt otany one fuse or fuses.

Fig. 7 represents the system as applied to the heading of a tunnel under the arrangement of wires shown 4in Fig. 6, while Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of positive and negative main wires with a branch circuit, as in Figs. 1, 2, 3.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the main circuit and the branch circuits, the latterbeing conducted to the various points for simultaneous ignition, and-being of less conductivity than the main Wires by reason of smaller size, or by the interposition otl resistance between their terminals suflicient to place the didercnt objects under equally favorable conditions for simultaneous explosion, substantially as described.

ALEXR. A. C. KLAUonn, EDWARD I I. KNiGu'r. 

